


Parental Disapproval

by Ayotofu



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Joe's kinda mean in this one, M/M, OlivarryHoliday2015, PTSD, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 10:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5453339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ayotofu/pseuds/Ayotofu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Oliver had to make a list of people—well, at least of those who had never actively tried to kill him—who he wanted to be snowed in with the least, Joe West would be number one.</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>Oliver and Barry get stuck at Joe's house on Christmas Eve and Joe still doesn't like Oliver.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parental Disapproval

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really sorry that this is so mean to Joe, honestly. He's not like ~irredeemable~ or anything, but he is kind of a dick. However, I'm really tired of The Flash like constantly shitting on Oliver (and mostly through Joe) so I felt like it had to be addressed at SOME point. And here we are. I hope you like it regardless!

Normally, Oliver really wouldn’t mind being snowed in on Christmas Eve with his boyfriend. Their lives were so hectic what with vigilante-ing in two separate cities hundreds of miles apart that it was nice to slow down and simply spend time with each other, even if that quality time was forced upon them by the weather. Normally, they’d probably cuddle on the couch with some cookies and hot cocoa (which Barry would probably insist on because it was _seasonal_ and _tradition_ but really, Oliver was sure, his actual motivation would be to see the grumpy archer with crumbs on his chest) and watch It’s a Wonderful Life. Normally, they’d get distracted halfway through, the movie fading to a pleasant background buzz as they thoroughly explored every inch of each other.

But they were snowed in with someone he _really_ wished they weren’t. In fact, if Oliver had to make a list of people—well, at least of those who had never actively tried to kill him—who he wanted to be stuck with the least, Joe West would be number one.

Barry’s foster father had made his opinion of Oliver excruciatingly clear: he was dangerous. A threat. A menace. And most definitely not someone he approved of his son dating. He had made it through dinner, successfully ignoring the pointed comments that Joe had made throughout (not that Barry had, and while Oliver appreciated the support, it had only served to increase the tension) but when it came time to leave, they couldn’t open the door.

“I guess you’ll have to stay here tonight,” Joe said, his voice carefully neutral.

“I guess so,” Barry replied, just as cool.

God, he wished Iris were here to play mediator.

She and Linda were spending Christmas Eve at the Park’s. They’d agreed to switch off, each couple getting one day with Joe and the other with the rest of the family. Thea, Roy, Felicity, and Digg had all come down to celebrate while Sara and Laurel stayed behind to take care of Starling City in their absence. But now they were stuck alone with Joe, who couldn’t keep himself from voicing his displeasure with Oliver every so often.

And really, Oliver got it. He did a lot of stuff which any sane person would find morally questionable at best, but… He really was trying to be better now. And he didn’t know what else he could do to prove it.

“Well, your room is still there,” Joe was saying to Barry. “And Iris took her old bed over to her apartment with Linda, so Queen can take the couch.”

That, Oliver supposed, really rubbed him wrong more than anything else. Joe _never_ addressed him when he could address it through Barry and he certainly never called him by his first name.

“ _Actually_ ,” Barry said, practically spitting each word, “I was thinking that _Oliver_ and I could share my room. He is your _guest_ , after all.”

“Oh no,” Joe said with an awkward chuckle, trying (and failing) to alleviate the tension. “I don’t want to be woken up in the middle of the night by the two of you— _canoodling_. Oh God that’s an image I did not need.”

Barry looked ready to fight some more (it was honestly pretty sexy if he thought about it) but it had really gone far enough. Barry probably still wanted to maintain some sort of relationship with his foster father after tonight, so he put a gentle hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder and shook his head slightly.

“It’s fine,” he said. “Believe me, I’ve slept on much worse.”

“That’s not—”

“Barry. It’s fine.” He looked Joe in the eye, daring the other man to look away (to his credit, he did not). “Thank you for letting me stay.”

Joe snorted. “Don’t reckon I’ve got much choice. You can’t exactly go anywhere else. Just try not to kill anyone while you’re here.”

For a moment, there was dead silence as everyone processed what Joe had just said. Joe’s face quickly morphed into one of utter remorse at his own words, his hands covering his mouth in horror. Barry, on the other hand, was so incensed that Oliver could practically feel the heat of his anger rolling off him in waves.

A distant corner of Oliver’s mind noted these things and catalogued them as he stared blankly at the man who might one day be his father-in-law.

“I-I’m sor—”

“ _You_ are unbelievable!”

Barry was shouting now. Why was he shouting? Barry didn’t shout—that was always Slade. Slade, on the floor of the freighter—“ _I keep my promises, kid_!”—and then an arrow in his eye. Slade, shouting “ _Choose_!” as his mother and sister lay bound and helpless before him, a gun in his hand, switching almost lazily between the two. His mother falling, stone-face, blood pouring from the wound in her chest—

“Oliver?”

_Both my children will live._

“Oliver!”

_Thea I love you. Close your eyes baby!_

“Hey!” Suddenly Barry was there ( _Barry_ , not Slade, but his beautiful boyfriend with a worry-creased forehead), close but not quite touching him. “Can you hear me Oliver? I need you to breathe. In. Out. In. Out.”

In. Out. In. Out.

His breathing slowly evened out (though he could still feel his heart racing beneath his skin) and he lowered his gaze, not able to meet Barry’s _stupidly gentle_ eyes. Barry cupped his chin in his hand and brought his eyes up anyway.

“You with me?” Barry breathed.

Oliver nodded, unable to speak.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—” Joe started to say.

“Yeah, well, you did,” Barry said harshly. Then he sighed. “Actually, I’m pretty sure I did, with all the yelling. Sorry.”

Oliver chuckled. “You both did, actually.” He let out a huff of air. “Well, now I’m exhausted. I’m going to go get cleaned up and ready for bed.”

As he trudged shakily over to the bathroom, shrugging off Barry’s motions of support, he heard Joe’s footsteps behind him. “Can I help you, Detective?”

“Qu—Oliver. I think I owe you an apology.”

“You apologized already,” Oliver said, moving to go into the bathroom.

“Not for that—for earlier.” Oliver stopped and turned to face the man, raising an eyebrow. “I was out of line, and I’m sorry. I guess—I was so focused on all the stuff I’d heard about you that I didn’t like that I forgot you were still, y’know, a real person under the mask.”

There is a moment of awkward silence between the two of them. “Okay,” Oliver said at last, “apology accepted.”

\--

Later that night, in Barry’s room, Oliver told him what had happened.

“Do you think he meant it?” Barry asked.

“I think he wanted to,” Oliver said. “I think he was trying to. And that’s good enough for me.”

Barry hmmed. “For now, at least.” They spent along moment simply lying in each other’s arms before Barry finally spoke again.

“You know,” he said conversationally, “after what happened down there, we could probably get away with a little _canoodling_ up here.”

“I’d rather not get thrown out on your doorstep in the middle of a blizzard.”

Barry just laughed and pulled him in for a searing kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, please come chat with me at ayo-tofu.tumblr.com!


End file.
